Many sayings and proverbs are based on the number three, even folklore includes it: three trials for a hero, three roads at a fork, or three wishes for a fisherman. And in Orthodox culture, the Day of the Holy Trinity is placed on a par with Christmas or Easter.
Three is mentioned everywhere, this number has a special meaning in every culture on the planet. Great people have long been interested in this number. For example, the ancient Greek mathematician Nicromachus said that three is a perfect true number, because it has a base, middle and end.
But the most familiar and closest expression with the troika is “God loves the Trinity,” because literally every Russian person has heard or used it. Of course, most Russian people can guess what it means, but today we will dot the i's.
The meaning of the expression: “God loves the Trinity” where it came from
People are accustomed to using the phrase “God loves the Trinity” as a proverb or saying, but it originated from Orthodox beliefs. In Christian culture, God is three persons, in other words, a trinity:
- father (a thought that was not born from anyone and does not come from anyone);
- son (a word born from a thought);
- holy spirit (an act that eternally emanates from thought).
It is worth noting that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible or in the Old Testament, although it was mentioned in some places, but Theophilus of Antioch introduced the full doctrine of the “Trinity” into Christian culture in the 2nd century. The troika is mentioned quite often in Orthodox culture: three miracles after the death of Christ, these three - Faith, Hope and Love, three gifts of the Magi to the infant Christ...
Shamanism
Even in shamanism there is the number three - a trinity of worlds, namely: the Upper, inhabited by spirits and deities, the Middle, inhabited by people and the Lower, the world where lower beings and spirits live, in other words, hell.
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Is this all there is about the Trinity in the New Testament?
No, not all of them. We talked only about direct New Testament indications of the trinity of God. And there are many indirect ones, but no less important.
For example, all the Gospels speak of the Baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Jordan River, during which a unique event occurred - the appearance of the entire Holy Trinity. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus Christ in the form of a white dove, and the voice of God the Father thundered from heaven: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17 ). In honor of this event, the Church established a special holiday, which it called the Epiphany (or Baptism of the Lord), and in its troparion - a special hymn explaining the significance of the celebrated event - proclaimed: “When You, Lord, were baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Most Holy Trinity: for the voice of the Father testified of You, calling You the beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of this word” (Russian translation of the Church Slavonic text).
True, when describing this event, the evangelists do not call the Holy Spirit God, but His Divine dignity is repeatedly emphasized in other New Testament books.
During his farewell conversation with his disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ calls the Holy Spirit another Comforter, who will abide with the apostles forever and teach... everything (John 14:16 , 25). With the same word παράκλητος (in this case translated as “Comforter”) Christ called Himself a little earlier.
In the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Peter denounces Ananias, who tried to deceive his fellow Christians, and says: Why did you allow Satan to put into your heart the idea of lying to the Holy Spirit and hiding from the price of the land?.. You lied not to men, but to God (Acts 5:3, 4).
For the Apostle Paul, the expressions “temple of God” and “temple of the Spirit of God” are synonymous: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? (1 Cor. 3:16).
There are many other places in the Holy Scriptures that testify to the Holy Spirit as an independent Person of the Most Holy Trinity. And even more so, in the New Testament there is no shortage of evidence of the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes you hear that all such testimonies are collected in one place - the Gospel of John: it is here that the Savior says I and the Father are one (John 10:30 ), whoever has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14 :9), here He accepts the confession of the Apostle Thomas My Lord and my God! (John 20:28 )…
Even if this Gospel were the only basis for our faith in the Divine dignity of the Lord Jesus, faith itself would not be shaken by this. But in fact such evidence is scattered throughout the New Testament.
Let us at least remember the parable of the Last Judgment, in which Christ Himself, calling Himself the Son of Man, sits on the throne of glory, turns out to be the Judge of all nations and the Commander of the angels (Matthew 25 :31-46). Let us recall a fragment of the Gospel of Luke, when the Savior heals ten lepers and, surprised that only one of them returned to thank Him, says: Were not ten cleansed? Where is nine? How did they not return to give glory to God except this foreigner? (Luke 17 :17–18). Let us finally remember the Apostle Paul, who writes to the Galatians that the Gospel he preaches is not human, for he received it and learned it not from man, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1 :11-12), to the Colossians - that In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2 :9-10), and to the Romans - that Christ is “God over all, blessed forever” (Rom 9 :5).
Why do they say: “God loves the Trinity”
“God loves the Trinity” is a saying used when asking someone to do something a third time after two unsuccessful attempts. There is also a proverb that means the same thing: everything, one way or another, comes three times, and any business is completed the third time. The people came up with the phrase, because according to Orthodox laws it is impossible to pronounce the name of God in vain. The expression is based on superstitious ideas and mystical meaning that our ancient ancestors gave to the number “3”, considering it sacred.
The meanings of the phrase “God loves the Trinity” that first come to mind are “God loves three people” or “God loves himself,” however, they are not true. The real meaning of the word “trinity” in this sentence is: the number three, three of any objects. That is, this proverb means “God loves the number three itself.” There are similar sayings in the Russian language: “God is not a beggar, he loves a thousand” and “God is not a fool, he loves a nickel.”
✍ Examples
Stephen King
“The Green Mile” (1996), translation - Victor Weber, Dmitry Weber, part 2, ch. 7:
“My dad used to say that God loves a trinity .”
“The appearance of John Coffey ended with another skirmish, and Wild Bill just caused a terrible fight. So three is truly God’s favorite number .”
Ivanov Alexey Viktorovich (b. 1969)
“The geographer drank the globe away” (2000):
“Well, let’s glide one more time...” whined Sluzhkin. “Well, the last one... God loves a trinity...”
Hasek Yaroslav (1883 – 1923)
“The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik” (1923, translation by P.G. Bogatyrev (1893 – 1971)):
“She married the forester again for the third time and said: “ God loves the trinity . If I’m unlucky now, I don’t know what to do.”
Schweik, before throwing out the visitor for the third time (Part 1, Chapter 13):
“Come on, sir,” Schweik invited, grabbing the uninvited guest by the shoulder. “God loves the trinity .”
Chekhov Anton Pavlovich (1860 – 1904)
“The Daughter of a Commerce Advisor” (1883) - the owner offers to drink more alcohol:
“Should we have a third drink? - suggested Mechanizmov. - God loves the trinity and that... tres faciunt consilium (Latin) - three make up a council.)... Latin, brothers! Yashka, give me your pig's face, a herring from that table! Gentlemen of the nobility, come on! No ceremony! Mitriy Petrych, wow, ala masher! (I beg you, start, dear! (distorted French - je vous prie allez, ma chère).)"
Snegirev Ivan Mikhailovich (1793 – 1868)
Russians in their proverbs:
“In the ancient church of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus (at the Myasnitsky Gate), on both choirs of the main altar Hermias, Solon, Plato, Thucydides, Stoic (?) and Aristotle are depicted with charters in their hands. In Thucydides: Phycytides also says: one is three and three is one, the incorporeal figuratively is the trinity .”
What do believers do on Trinity Sunday?
Orthodox churches on this day are filled with summer greenery. The floors are covered with freshly cut grass, combined with the aroma of incense giving an unforgettable aroma. Parishioners come to the service with wildflowers and birch branches. Even the color of the clergy’s vestments is green.
Why is the Trinity holiday filled with a plant-green theme, what does birch mean as its symbol?
- The birch is a reminder of the oak grove of Mamvre, where there was an oak tree (a tree of a different species, but nonetheless), under which God, in the guise of 3 angels, appeared to Abraham.
- There is also the Jewish, Old Testament Pentecost, dedicated to the procession of the Jews from Egypt. On the 50th day, they approached Mount Sinai, buried in flowering plants (it was spring), where the famous 10 commandments were given to Moses. This is how the custom of decorating churches and houses with greenery took root, as if being transported to Mount Sinai at a fateful moment. And the delicate greenery of birch branches is ideal for this.
- Birch branches with young leaves symbolize the human soul, blossoming from the touch of the grace of the Holy Spirit - by analogy with how nature awakens after hibernation.
The church service for Trinity is one of the most majestic and beautiful.
At the end of the Liturgy (morning service), during which many receive communion, Trinity Vespers is performed with kneeling prayers. Each is a request addressed to the Lord for communion with the grace of the Holy Spirit and admonition - similar to how the apostles were admonished. In fact, this is the main prayer for Trinity.
Regardless of when Trinity is this year, on the day following it, Spirits Day is always celebrated - in honor of the glorification of the Holy Spirit.
Feast of the Holy Trinity: what does it mean?
Let’s move on from complex theological concepts to more familiar categories—festive ones.
After all, first of all, Trinity is a holiday, one of those that the church classifies as the twelve (12 most important after Easter). It is associated with the emerald greenery of forbs, birch branches, and the smell of freshly cut grass.
Trinity: what kind of holiday is this for believers? Not at all banal twigs and flowers and barbecue gatherings in a friendly company under the canopy of birches.
This is an annual remembrance of the gospel event - the descent of the Holy Spirit.
As the New Testament says, before ascending into the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus made a promise to the apostles that to complete the work of saving people, the Comforter - the Holy Spirit - would come to them, and this would happen very soon. The Jerusalem apostles waited: together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and other believers, they gathered daily to read the Holy Scriptures and pray.
On the 10th day after the Ascension, a noise was heard, tongues of fire appeared (they shone, but did not burn), descending on the heads of the disciples. The apostles acquired the ability to speak foreign languages and could now preach to different nations. Thus, Christian teaching began to spread throughout the world, and this was started by 12 simple, illiterate workers.
What happened clearly showed the existence of 3 Persons of God, one in essence, and the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit is considered to be the day of the birth of the Christian Church.
